Put Your Armor On!

Read this carefully. Let it sink into you soul.

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therfore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."

"Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Sprit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints- and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."

Ephesians 6:10-20

The battle is fierce. The devil will stop at nothing to discourage us, distract us, and eventually move us off course. 1 Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour".

This entire year has been one loss after another for my family. We experienced a miscarriage, loss of financial vitality, loss of energy, focus, and clarity. I have experienced depression and feelings of hopelessness, and detachment. But wait...

Here is the vision God gave me this morning while speaking to a good friend: There is a great army on my heels that has sent me running out of fear. I finally reach the edge of a precipice. The only options I feel at the moment are to stay on the edge or jump. If I jumped that would mean certain death. I feel the Spirit of God say "stand firm and put your armor on. I'm going to build a bridge for you". The fiery arrows of the evil one are all around me and fear is welling up inside me. But look at the verse I underlined above, "taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one". Our faith in God is our shield. After we have done everything, we stand. God will build the bridge! On the other side of this bridge is a life we could never imagine on our own. However, to take hold of that life we must continually stay focused on Christ, even in the midst of severe trials. So don't jump out of fear. Put your armor on. Stand firm. God will build the bridge!

Always Learning

I am a know-it-all. I am a judgmental, critical, and impatient woman. I think I know more and can do everything so much better than everyone else. I'm a Martha of Martha's in a Martha world competing with everyone for perfection. But that small, still voice speaks to my spirit, "always learning". Always learning? I don't want to learn, I want to master! "Pride comes before a fall", says the still, small voice. Ouch! "But I give grace to the humble." He says to me, "come to me all you who are weary and heavy laiden and I will give you rest". You mean I can't do everything to perfection? I can never be the best? I will never know everything? Wow, I just realized how exhausted I am. Mary, can I come sit next to you on the floor? I have so much to learn! Thanks for saving me a seat.

"Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is neeeded, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42

Landslide

I keep asking myself the same question over and over again. "What do I want?" I used to know exactly what I wanted and I had made all the necessary changes to ensure the success of my goals. The funny thing about life is that it never turns out the way you think it will. Unexpected twists and turns happen all the time that leave you dumbfounded and confused. It's at the crossroads that we must decide to continue on the path we were originally walking or decide if it is time to take the detour and walk down the unknown path. I have learned a lot about God along my journey. I've learned a lot about myself, my family, and my friends. I walk alone on this new journey. It is easy for me to feel misunderstood and mistreated by those I felt would always understand me and always be there for me. I know all the promises of God in the Bible. Yet, I know that I am in a season of blind faith. It is a season of my life that I have never walked before, nor do I ever want to walk again. However, I find it strangely comforting to be on this journey of new discoveries without allowing the interruptions of other people's expectations and thoughts about what I should or could be doing to guide me. Those times when I feel most alone and isolated from the world around me is when I depend upon God and my faith in Him the most.

Never underestimate the power of change. I always claimed to enjoy change, I thrived on it. Change has a strange way of throwing you completely off balance and out of sync with your life and priorities. Change is a good thing.  I look back at my hopes and dreams from the past and wonder what I was thinking, and why I wanted those things so badly. It is God's overriding plan that takes us from the mundane, easy to explain type of life to the extraordinary kind of life. It takes tragedy and pain to mold us, shape us, and prepare us for the bigger picture that has yet to be revealed.

Do you ever get tired? Tired of the choices you've made? Tired of the same old same old? Do you ever feel exhausted by the weight of the world on your shoulders? Do you ever get tired of always having good intentions but never being able to follow through on them?

I've decided to give up everything. I've decided I am tired of settling. I've decided I'm tired of running from my pain, problems, and rejections. I've decided that I want more.

Let's get rid of the good intentions and replace them with action. You say you want to experience God, then let's experience Him through spending time with Him daily. You say you want to obey Him, then do it! I say I want more of Him and less of me, then mean it, live it! Discipleship and the path to righteousness and holiness is never easy. If its not difficult, its not worth fighting for. Live for blind faith and be surprised by what you find!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:4-5

" He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For you are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Psalms 23:3-4

Prayer

Father,
My heart is full of joy as I sit and think about your marvelous works, your unfailing love, and your tender mercies that are new every moment. How can I not praise you? How can I not love you? How can I not serve you? My prayer is that I would be a woman who says "yes!" to you every day of my life. I pray that through my "yes!" others will say "yes!". My longing is that your message will permeate my soul and change my life. I want more of you now than I have ever wanted of me. You have given me so much, and yet you want to give me so much more. You want my life to shine your light and to proclaim your wonders. How great are you, O God! Higher than the heavens and deeper than the ocean is your love. May I have a committed faith, not just a proclaimed faith. May I have a faith that moves mountains and trust you through my fears and doubts. May I not see the present circumstances and shrink back, but someone who sees the present circumstances and praises you for what you are doing in me through them. May my life's goal be to bring your honor and glory. To love others the way you love them and to sacrifice my desires, my will, and my dreams and replace them for yours. I pray that every person who reads this will want the same. I pray that we will live for more than what we are settling for. I pray that we would cast aside everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles and run the race marked out for us with perseverance. I am all in God. May our hearts be awakened with your presence. May you speak to us so tenderly that it touches the very depths of our souls and requires response. To you, O God, I surrender. For you, O God, are all I am living for.
Amen.

Trudging

I woke up to the word trudge in my head this morning. Trudge means to walk in a laborious, heavy-footed way or a long, tedious walk. I am going in for an extensive sinus  surgery in the next few days and if you remember from my last post I commented on training for a marathon. My sinus' are so messed up that I have had to halt all my exercise efforts. Everything I do is slower now. My energy is slow and my body does not function the way it used to. I feel like I am trudging through life just waiting for my surgery to be over and to have my life back.

I had the opportunity to listen to an amazing testimony at a woman's event from a lady that was in one of my classes earlier this year. She was a brand new Christian when I met her and we spent a lot of time talking through all that she was experiencing. To see her now is such a blessing. I can see the weight lifted off her shoulders and hear the love and excitement of Jesus in her voice. I had to stop and reflect for a moment about how I used to sound like her. I used to be so excited about what God was doing in and through my life.

Both of the stories I just shared with you can relate to all of us. We can see others around us so on fire and excited for God. We can be moving along so great and then all of the sudden something happens and we lose our energy, our spark. We begin to trudge through life and our walk with God. It happens to all of us.

One of my favorite passages in Scripture is 1 Corinthians 1:26-29,31

"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him... let him who boasts boast in the Lord."


Bad things happen and for so many of us life gets in the way. But is this what God wants for me, for us? To just merely exist? As the Scripture above states it has nothing to do with who we are, what we have done or where we are in life. It is all about grace and true love. We can turn our sorrow into dancing, we can turn our trudging into running.

I am so excited to see where God is going to move with this ministry and I pray for all of you daily and the impact it will have on your world and the lives of those around you. Let's make a pact to live for more. Let us take this time as we go into the holiday season to fall in love with Jesus again.

Remember God wants you. He loves you and you are a cherished child of the living God!

Strength In Perseverance

I took up training for a half-marathon about a month ago. I have never run in my entire life except during P.E. in middle school (we all know that isn’t really running). My husband was so proud of me that he bought me a book and all the running gear I could possibly need to succeed. Even having everything, all the gear, knowledge and desire it all comes down to perseverance at 6:00 a.m. on cold, overcast mornings on deserted streets.

I can relate running to my walk with God. I may spend hours reading, praying, fasting and teaching but there are times when my faith and my body grows weak. There are times when I don’t feel like waking up early every morning to spend time with God or I may not feel like teaching a class. It all comes down to sheer perseverance to follow the command Jesus gave us.

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” Luke 9:23-24

Perseverance has to come from the right place in order for our lives to make a difference in the Kingdom of God. Our strength comes from God alone. Relying on Him to sustain us, equip up and use us. What are areas in your walk with God that require perseverance?

So many times in life we have the right intentions, the right goals and the motivation to start them. However, what matters most is consistency and follow-through. Think back over the last few months, even years of promises that you have made to God, yourself and others that you have never finished. You don’t have to wait any longer. It doesn’t matter how long it has been.

Be a person who says “yes” to God. Be someone that others can count on to always finish what you start. Stay committed and stay focused on the goal. Your most important commitment is to the Lord. Give Him the first fruits of your day, money, talents and life. I promise you will never be disappointed.

Even when it is hard remember this:

“God has said, ‘never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’” Hebrews 13:5-6

A Home For The Heart

I spent the first few years of my married life moving from one place to another. I believe I totalled our number of homes to be 11 in five short years. I remember walking furniture and home stores dreaming of what my home would look like whenever we finally were able to settle. My heart longed for a place that was my own, a place that had little pieces of me and the people I loved up everywhere, a place that showed my creativity.

Years were starting to pass me by and the security of a home seemed like a distant, never to be realized fantasy. My husband was gone most of the time due to his commitment to the military. I was in a place in my life where nothing seemed to turn out the way I thought it would. I eventually became depressed and desperate for happiness, security and peace from what felt like an unwavering storm that raged around me.

I had the opportunity to spend a quiet evening at home tonight and after tucking my precious son in to bed I went out into the living room to close the windows and the blinds. I found myself stuck by the windows peering out into the sky full of dark clouds and a slight breeze that seemed to quiet everything around me. Even though the threat of a storm was all around me I felt safe, warm and secure inside my home. In fact I had an overwhelming sense of peace. Instead of looking scary and threatening to me, the clouds looked beautiful. The thought of rain seemed to quiet my soul.

I love nights like these. It is a time of reflection. A time when God reveals the beauty in the storms. The inexpressible peace that comes in the midst of the storm. You see, I spent most of those turbulent few first years of marriage only focusing on the storm and what I was lacking. Now, with God as the center of my life I face the storms in life and focus on the beauty and peace that can only be experienced during turbulent storms.

Our hearts were designed to search for a home, a place of belonging and rest. I spent many years depending upon others, finances, degrees, careers, marriage and pregnancy trying to find rest for my weary heart.

Have you ever felt like that? Do you ever feel that when you grasp for something in life it slips through your fingers and disappears? In my time of reflection tonight the Lord spoke to my heart. He was calling me to a deeper, more intimate walk with Him. Our foundation is where it all begins. Without the proper foundation we crumble when the storms comes through.

I pray that your heart would find its home. Not a temporary home, but a permanent home. A place where you feel safe, loved, secure and valued. There is a beautiful song by Trevor Davis called "As Bold As A Lion" and in it he says "as I rise from the sinking, I feel just like the sun, and as I rise I am thinking I want this for everyone...". I want this for everyone. The love and the peace that God has given me is what many search for and few ever find. I pray that you would search for it with all your heart.

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." Matthew 7:24-27